~ Ottley debunks rumors on the issuance of transportation licenses.~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Acting Minister of TEATT Omar Ottley on Tuesday debunked the rumor about the Ministry’s plan to issue 40 taxi licenses.
Minister Ottley said that there is a moratorium in place on all transportation licenses and so far there has not been any discussion on the issuance of transportation licenses to anyone. “I have not had any discussions with anyone to lift the moratorium,” Ottley said the rumor started with a post on Facebook and today everyone is jumping to conclusions as if the government has taken such a decision to lift the moratorium and issue 40 licenses. "I want to make clear that no such discussions have taken place with my person, Ottley said."
On Monday the Dutch Taxi Association issued a statement saying they are not in favor of lifting the moratorium without the reinstatement of the Steering Committee.
As regular participants in the main economy, we can first-handedly determine that the current state of our island's main economy does not support a demand for more taxis. Although we may see numbers within the millions, this does give an adequate projection of visitor expenditure within the cruise sector.
Unfortunately, the public transportation sector has been turned into a playing field for political leverage, government personnel's personal interests, and clouded judgment due to greed. These persons do not see the negative impact their personal interests are having on the tourism industry and the island's main source of income.
St. Maarten may be the only place in the world where an island ambassador does not have to know anything about the very island, they are an ambassador of.
